"Sometimes, if I'm tired enough, push my body hard enough, I can stop thinking, stop feeling, and just be" (Kaufman, 2023, p. 1).
"When we were young, and the priests told us tales about the heroes of old, they always seemed so noble. None of them were scared, or angry, or uncertain" (Kaufman, 2023, p. 2).
Author: Amie Kaufman
Publication Date: 2023
Number of Pages: 464
Edition: Hardcover
Geographical Setting: (fictional settings) Crescent Sea, Isles of the Gods, Mellacea, Alinor
Time Period: (estimated based on realistic history) 1650s-1730s
Plot Summary:
Sally is a sailor in training who is desperate to reunite with her father before the north seas become impassable. Otherwise, she'll be forced to train another year with a captain that hates her. All her escape plans are foiled by a mischievous prince with the most detailed magician's marks on his arms. He's tasked with preventing a war that would destroy a 500-year-old peace. And he's already a year late.
Can Sally and her crew safely transport Prince Leander to the Isles of the Gods? Can Leander finally accomplish his duty and save the world? Or will sinister forces desperate to rewake their god and reclaim glory for their homeland destroy all their plans?
Subject Heading:
Fantasy, Pirates, Adventures, Young Adult
Young Adult Appeals
Age
"Main character is age 13-19, typically around age 16 or 17; Focuses on high school or early college experiences; middle school and young teens are often less represented" (Jensen, 2022).
Sally is around 17 years old and is training under a captain to gain more experience before earning her own ship. This is basically her early college or trade school. The other point-of-views are all teens or young adults on the older side of the age requirement, such as those aged 16-19.
Theme
"Focuses on 'coming of age,' 'firsts' and deep questioning; teen protagonists are navigating who they are and who they want to be and navigating the developmental stage of defining self; firsts often include first love" (Jensen, 2022).
While all the characters are going through a developmental phase, Leander is most confronted with it. He has to decide whether or not he's ready to be what the world needs him to be. Also, his past decisions are constantly affecting his present, as well as everyone else's, which he has to recognize to move forward. He has always used his charms and nonchalant attitude to define himself, but now his royal duty demands his attention. His actions from here on forward will determine how the world sees him.
Style
"YA fiction tends to be 'in the moment' and faster paced' YA isn't necessarily shorter in page numbers, but it uses words more efficiently to create that faster pace; often told in present tense and third or first person point of view" (Jensen, 2022).
As an adventure format, the book is fast-paced and propelled by the characters' actions or inactions. The multiple POVs make the story go even faster since it jumps from place to place as well as forward in time. One such scene is a sea battle that spans several chapters because every character's perspective is shown with each side of the fight, and the reader processes the experience at a faster rate.
3 terms that best describe this book:
Duty-focused, sea-adventure, ancient gods
Young Adult Read-Alikes:
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Ross, R. (2023). Divine rivals. Wednesday Books.
Common Appeals:
Historical Fiction, Ancient Gods, Multiple POVs
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
Ibañes, I. (2023). What the river knows. Wednesday Books.
Common Appeals:
Dangerous Race, Magic, Adventure
Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller
Levenseller, T. (2017). Daughter of the pirate king. Feiwel and Friends.
Common Appeals:
High Seas, Romance, Women take the lead
References
Ibañes, I. (2023). What the river knows. Wednesday Books.
Jensen, K. (2022, March 21). What makes a book a YA novel? A discussion of what ya is, and what it isn’t. Teen Librarian Toolbox. https://teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2022/03/21/what-makes-a-book-a-ya-novel-a-discussion-of-what-ya-is-and-what-it-isnt/.
Kaufman, A. (2023). The isles of the gods. Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Levenseller, T. (2017). Daughter of the pirate king. Feiwel and Friends.
Ross, R. (2023). Divine rivals. Wednesday Books.
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